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Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Worldwide semiconductor capital spending is projected to decline 4.7 per cent in 2016, to USD 59.4 billion, according to Gartner, Inc. This is down from the 3.3 per cent growth predicted in Gartner's previous quarter's forecast. "The 2016 outlook for the semiconductor manufacturing equipment market reflects a bleaker outlook for end-user electronics demand and the world economic environment," said David Christensen, senior research analyst at Gartner. "Capital investment policies of leading semiconductor vendors have remained cautious against the background of sluggish electronics demand. However, the long-term outlook shows a return to growth, although the wafer-level manufacturing equipment market is expected to enter a gentle down cycle in 2016 due to the loss of the supply and demand balance in the DRAM market," Christensen said. The IT research and advisory company said that spending on wafer-level manufacturing equipment is forecast to decline 2.4 percent this year. Within the forecast, different segments are expected to fare differently in response to varying end-market conditions. Beyond 2016, the market turns positive, with relatively strong growth forecast through 2018.

Tata Consultancy Service: Tata Consultancy Service reported consolidated net profit of Rs. 6,083.39 crore for the quarter, registering decline of 0.02% qoq. The Company’s consolidated revenue stood at Rs. 27,364.01 crore, registering growth of 0.73% qoq.Piramal Enterprises: Piramal Enterprises Ltd. has sold BST-CarGel, its cartilage repair product, to med-tech company Smith & Nephew, for an undisclosed sum, according to a business daily.Radico Khaitan: HSBC Global Investments Funds reduced stake in liquor firm Radico Khaitan to 5.89%, according to reports. HSBC sold 8,52,192 shares of Radico Khaitan. Crompton Greaves: Avantha Group Company CG has been awarded a contract from Denmark’s national electricity transmission system operator Energinet.dk to provide power transformers and Gas Insulated Switchgear (GIS) for the Kriegers Flak wind farm project in the Baltic Sea.IndusInd Bank: The Bank has posted rise of 30% in its net profit of Rs. 581 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2015 as compared to Rs. 447.2 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2014. The bank has announced that it has partnered with PayU India to revolutionize Digital Banking & Payments.Bajaj Auto: Bajaj Auto is undertaking test-runs of its proposed quadricycle 'Qute' in various cities, according to a business daily. The Pune-based company is test-running Qute to ascertain the challenges it may face on Indian roads, such as speed control and load handling, reports the financial newspaper.Godfrey Phillips: Japan Tobacco (JT), the world’s third-largest listed tobacco company, is in talks to acquire a part of the promoter’s stake in Godfrey Phillips India (GPI), reports a business daily. The KK Modi Group, which owns ~47% in GPI, is also believed to be in talks with long-time partner Philip Morris International for a similar deal, according to the newspaper.

State Bank of India: State Bank of India (SBI) plans to monetise non-core assets and list some of its subsidiaries to meet capital requirements as well as meet Basel-III norms, which will kick in from March 2019.Oil & Natural Gas Corp: ONGC plans to cut operational costs by at least 10% as oil prices trade at 12-year lows, according to a business daily. ONGC plans to hire a consultant to suggest cost cuts and controlling of operating expenditure, reports the daily.

Reliance Communications: The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has asked Reliance Communications (RCom) to pay INR 5,384 crore for sharing its 800 MHz spectrum in 16 circles, reports a business daily. The spectrum liberalisation fee would apply to all circles where airwaves were not sold via auctions, adds the financial newspaper.Coal India: Coal India Ltd. is making its biggest tech overhaul in four decades to check rampant theft as it gears up for the entry of private mining companies in the coal sector, reports a business daily.DCB Bank: DCB Bank reported a 3% decrease in standalone net profit at Rs.41.2 crore for the third quarter that ended on December 31, 2015.The bank's total income has increased by 10.5% at Rs. 477.1 crore for the quarter against Rs. 404.5 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.IVRCL Ltd: The company has made an allotment of 1,94,375 equity shares of Rs.2/- each, at issue price of Rs. 24.39/- per share, on January 12, 2016 to SREI EQUIPMENT FINANCE LIMITED (CDR Lender) who have signed the Master Restructuring Agreement. This allotment is towards conversion of FITL into equity.JSW Steel: Crude steel production dropped 15 per cent to 2.70 million tonne (MT) in October-December this fiscal due to planned shutdown of blast furnaces for capacity expansion. JSW Group had recorded 3.17 MT crude steel production in the third quarter of 2014-15. Federal Bank: The bank posted a 38.5 per cent drop in net profit at Rs. 162.7 crore for the third quarter ended December due to a rise in bad loans.The total income of the lender also came down to Rs. 2,086 crore during the quarter, from Rs. 2,090 crore in the year-ago period.Omkar Speciality Chemicals Ltd: The company has received environment clearance for its Manufacturing Unit - V located in Ratnagiri, Maharashtra. Tata Power: Tata Power has raised Rs. 500 crore through unsecured redeemable, taxable non-convertible debentures (NCDs) on a private placement basis.Jet Airways: The company announced special inaugural fares for flights between India and Amsterdam, the airline's new European gateway, commemorating the commencement of its maiden flights to Amsterdam on March 27, 2016.Amara Raja: Amara Raja Group has committed an investment of Rs.50 bn in Andhra Pradesh across business verticals such as electronics, auto, IT, energy and infrastructure.

Cox & Kings Ltd has informed BSE that a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Company will be held on February 05, 2016, inter alia, to consider and approve the Unaudited Financial Results for the quarter ended December 31, 2015 (Q3).

In view of the above, the trading window for dealing in the Company's scrip by the Directors and Designated Employees of the Company shall remain closed from January 21, 2016 to February 06, 2016 in terms of the SEBI (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations, 2015.

Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS), country's largest software exporter, on Tuesday reported steady growth of 14.2 per cent in its consolidated net profit after taxes (PAT) at Rs 6,083.39 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2015, slightly affected due to Chennai floods as the company had earlier warned that the floods would hurt its growth and margins.

“The consolidated net profit of the IT services provider firm stood at Rs 5,327.55 crore during the same period a year ago,” said Tata Consultancy Services Ltd in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange on January 12, 2016.

Further, consolidated total income of TCS rose 11.6 per cent at Rs 28,058.19 crore during Q3 FY16, as compared to Rs 25,145.05 crore the during same quarter last fiscal.

“Our international business has grown smartly in CC terms with North America and Europe leading the way among major markets and Latin America among growth markets,” he added.

He further said that digital business continues to be the core focus for enterprise IT in 2016 as customers respond to competition in a global economy driven by real-time insights.

“With 13.7 per cent of our revenues coming from Digital business and this segment growing at a higher sequential rate, TCS is playing an impactful role in partnership with customers,” he said.

It’s board has declared a third interim dividend of Rs 5.50 per equity share of Rs 1 each of the company, TCS said in a statement.

The Mumbai-based firm said there was a total gross addition of 22,118 people (net addition of 9,071 employees) taking the total employee strength to 3,44,691 on consolidated basis.

The utilisation rate (excluding trainees) was at 84.9 per cent while the attrition rate (LTM) fell to 15.9 per cent.

Commenting on the results, TCS, Human Resources, Executive VP and Global Head, Ajoy Mukherjee said, “Our efforts to increase employee retention is working with quarterly attrition rates falling in Q3. Our hiring continues to support strong business growth and we continue to invest in building digital skills, with over 70,000 TCSers undergoing training in new technologies this year.”

Following the earnings announcement, shares of TCS ended on Tuesday at Rs 2,324.05 apiece, down 1.65 per cent, from previous close on BSE.

Assocham has favoured differential pricing for data services as it will be in "consumer interest and is commonplace in the wider economy".

In its submission to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), Assocham said operators should be able to offer consumers the services which best meet their needs, including those for self-care, updates and the like.

As per the PTI report, it said differentiated pricing also has societal benefits, ensuring communications and Internet services are accessible, affordable and available.

The chamber further said differential pricing will also benefit smaller content providers and encourage innovation as it gives them the opportunity to compete and there is "no harm to them".

"There are many examples of challengers in the market, such as MetroPCS, Sprint and T-Mobile in the US, all of which have used differential pricing in order to compete with larger competitors," it added.

Assocham said differential prices are not anti-competitive and would ensure all the principles of non-discrimination, affordability and innovativeness along with encouraging investments.

Net neutrality activists continue to oppose any differential pricing regime, saying it would amount to curbs on freedom of choice to access the Internet.

Trai has received 24 lakh comments on its consultation paper on differential pricing, an important aspect of Net neutrality principles.

Union Heavy Industries Minister Anant Geete on Tuesday said that out of 32 Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) under his ministry, 12 including Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) are running in losses, as per the media reports. “Out of 32 PSUs under my (heavy industries) ministry, 12 including BHEL were running in losses,” he told reporters in Bhopal, quoted PTI. He said BHEL, a maharatna company, will come out of the financial distress in a year as it got orders worth Rs 28,000 crore this year. To a query, Geete blamed the alleged coal scam under the previous UPA government for the ill-health of BHEL. “After the coal scam came to light, it resulted into short supply of the fuel which hit the power generation sector in India. The coal scam came as a cropper and the new ventures in power didn't take place as expected,” he alleged. According to the minister, however, things are changing and condition of BHEL and 11 other PSUs will improve. To improve the financial condition of BHEL, Geete said the company was looking to manufacture equipment used in setting up of solar power plants.

Finance Ministry attributed the decline in November industrial production to a 4-year low to statistical reasons, particularly due to lesser number of working days due to Diwali and the impact of Chennai floods, reported PTI.

"This number is effected by two factors. One is Diwali in November and as a result, there were fewer working days. And also, some impact of Chennai floods was also present in the data," Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) Arvind Subramanian told reporters while commenting on the data.

"When the October number came, which was very positive, we had said that could be artificially high and this is probably artificially low."

He further said the IIP number for the year as a whole is still higher than last year's and "broadly, the trend seems to be upwards".

"So, broadly what I feel is that data are consistent with what we said in the Mid-Year Analysis that economy is probably recovering but sending mixed signals, some good, some scope for improvement," he said.

On retail inflation, he said: "I think RBI target for inflation is going to be met, nothing to be unduly worried about."

The key domestic equity benchmarks are likely to witness a gap down opening on Wednesday as investors react to a surprise factory contraction and a surge in inflation in Asia’s third biggest economy, souring the lure for risky assets. India’s industrial output plunged to over a four-year low, contracting a massive 3.2 per cent in November 2015 from the same month a year ago as manufacturing production shrank 4.4 per cent, signaling a slowdown in the country’s economy. Meanwhile, consumer inflation spiked to a 15-month high of 5.61 per cent in December 2015 from 5.41 per cent in November 2015, dashing hopes of a near-term interest rate cut by the RBI. Shares of IT major TCS may see some selling pressure after the company reported Q3 revenue which lagged analysts’ estimates. TCS in after-market hours on Tuesday said that Q3 FY 2015-16 rupee revenue rose sequentially 0.7 per cent to Rs 27,364 crore but dollar revenue shrank 0.3 per cent to USD 4,145 million weighed down by seasonality and Chennai floods. Weakness in the CNX Nifty Index futures for January delivery which fell by 0.64 per cent or 48 points at 7,537 at 10:23 am Singapore time, signals that Dalal Street may open lower today. Marking a second straight session in the red, the 30-share Sensex extended a slump from a 19-member low on Tuesday, falling by 143.01 points or by 0.58 per cent to end at 24,682.03 amidst caution ahead of key macro-economic data, while lenders retreated after IndusInd Bank and Federal Bank posted a rise in their bad loans.

Asian stocks rebounded from a three-year low today as a surprise rise in China’s exports eased concerns over a slowdown in the world’s second biggest economy. China’s Shanghai Composite surged over 1 per cent while Hang Seng advanced over 2.2 per cent after data showed that China’s exports rose 2.3 per cent, year on year, in Yuan terms in December 2015, following an annual 3.7 per cent dip in November 2015. Japan’s Nikkei 225 surged over 2.6 per cent, rising for the first time this year tracking overnight gains at Wall Street amidst speculation that the China induced global mayhem may have been overdone. US job openings rose in November and small business confidence climbed last month, signaling strength in the world’s biggest economy, supporting a rally in US equities. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 0.72 per cent; the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.03 per cent while S&P 500 rose 0.78 per cent.

On BSE, total number of shares traded was 31.93 Crore and total turnover stood at Rs. 2643.71 Crore.

On NSE Future and Options, total number of contracts traded in index futures was 283120 with a total turnover of Rs. 14932.02 Crore. Along with this total number of contracts traded in stock futures were 504841 with a total turnover of Rs. 25446.91 Crore. Total numbers of contracts for index options were 2657316 with a total turnover of Rs. 149031.51 Crore and total numbers of contracts for stock options were 319392 with a total turnover of Rs. 16512.72 Crore.

The FIIs on 12/01/2016 stood as net seller in equity and net buyer in debt. Gross equity purchased stood at Rs. 3146.46 Crore and gross debt purchased stood at Rs. 987.39 Crore, while the gross equity sold stood at Rs. 4192.26 Crore and gross debt sold stood at Rs. 602.20 Crore. Therefore, the net investment of equity and debt reported were Rs. -1045.80 Crore and Rs. 385.19 Crore.